


a first of many embarrassing falls

by carpfish



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, Pre Release, Ridiculous romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-11
Updated: 2013-06-10
Packaged: 2017-12-14 14:36:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/837987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpfish/pseuds/carpfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matsuoka Gou is beautiful, and <i>damn</i>, Rei is crushing hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a first of many embarrassing falls

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by these adorable asks on swimclubboys on tumblr: [X](http://swimclubboys.tumblr.com/post/52504461231) [X](http://swimclubboys.tumblr.com/post/52504766706) [X](http://swimclubboys.tumblr.com/post/52504838483) as well as this amazing comic by frenchtoastandbelgiumwaffles [X](http://frenchtoastandbelgianwaffles.tumblr.com/post/52569222429/it-says-thats-gr9-by-the-way-please-excuse-my)

The sky is mildly overcast, cloudy enough to filter some of the sunlight but not dark enough to herald rain. It’s a blessing that they won’t be subjected to the punishing heat of summer, Rei thinks, but he knows that UV rays still permeate through cloud cover, thus remembers to put on sunscreen that morning. It’s also an advantage that he won’t have to deal with the glare of sunlight when calculating the angle of his vault. Rei surveys the sports field- the ground is dry despite the brief showers from the day before, so he will not have to worry about slipping in the middle of his run-up. As he runs through other factors that could affect his performance, he doesn’t notice that he’s begun vocalizing his concerns until Hazuki Nagisa, who sit behind him in class and is present today as a stand-in cheerleader, pokes him in the cheek and asks, “Rei-chan, what’re you talking about?”

Rei flinches in surprise at both the sudden disturbance, as well as the nickname. “Ah, I didn’t realize I was speaking, sorry,” He manages to stutter out, and takes a step away from the shorter boy, who fails to realize that he is currently invading Rei’s personal space. Hazuki’s eyes widen with curiosity, and he crosses the distance between him and Rei yet again, oblivious to his closeness.

“Are you nervous about your event today?” Hazuki asks, his voice as bright as the bubbles in soda pop. Rei shakes his head, because he’s never nervous- he’s practiced hard, he’s confident in his abilities, and he knows that this is something that he’s good at. As long as he ensures that he can perform at his utmost, then he’s satisfied, whether he goes home with a medal or not. Unfortunately, Hazuki mistakes his silence for tenseness, and opens his mouth, about to launch into an awe-inspiring speech about how Rei’s going to do great today and not to worry, when a fuchsia-haired girl from one of the other school teams breaks off from her group and jogs towards the both of them, waving with a smile on her face. Rei has never seen her before, so he concludes that she must be a friend of Hazuki’s.

“Nagisa-kun! Long time no see!” She calls out, and Hazuki’s smile brightens to an almost blinding intensity, sprinting over to meet her.

“Gou-chan! You’re back in Japan?”

“Yeah, just this year! I’m sorry I didn’t contact you, but nii-chan is a jerk and he wouldn’t give me you guys’ contacts. How’ve you all been?”

Hazuki and the girl immediately strike up a lively conversation, catching up after their apparent separation, and Rei speculates that she may have been a childhood friend of Hazuki’s. She’s wearing a sports uniform, Rei observes, which means that she’s going to be competing in this athletics meet, and he can’t help but wonder what event she’ll be participating in. The rational majority of Rei’s brain tries very, very hard to ignore that said sports uniform consists of short shorts that reveal a pair of very nice legs, but the hormonal teenaged corner of his brain fights a valiant resistance, and eventually wins the struggle over dominance of his thoughts. Rei ends up working as slight blush, and averts his eyes, covering his mouth with a hand. It doesn’t help that she’s wearing a ponytail- Rei’s always liked ponytails.

His internal conflict is interrupted by Hazuki once again, waving him over to join their conversation while chirping, “Hey, Rei-chan, turns out that Gou-chan does pole vault as well! Gou-chan, this is Rei-chan, my classmate and a member of our athletics team!” Rei looks at the girl, Gou, he reminds himself, and makes a mental note to keep a look out for her on the meet roster. Even though they’ll be in different gender groups, it can’t hurt to take a look at other schools’ competition. The logo on her tank top spells out “Samezuka High”, which Rei silently logs into his memory.

The girl is able to introduce herself as Matsuoka Gou, before someone calls her to return to Samezuka’s part of the stands, at which point she turns and waves goodbye to them as she leaves. Hazuki waves back and bounces on the balls of his feet, before turning to Rei and commenting, “You should take a look at Gou-chan’s event. She’s really good at watch she does!” Rei adjusts his glasses, unsure of Hazuki’s standards for pole vaulting, but nonetheless nods and says that he will do exactly so.

The girls’ pole vault is right after the boys’, so it isn’t too much trouble for Rei to stay back for a bit and watch Matsuoka’s event. When Rei gets off the safety mat and places his pole back into the pile, she jogs up to him in the middle of her warm ups. “That was a really nice vault there,” she compliments, stretching her arms behind her head at the same time. “Nagisa-kun wasn’t kidding when he said you were good! You’re a first year, right?” Rei nods, and she responds with, “So am I! I hope I won’t disappoint you when you watch me event then!” Rei can see the gleam of competition and determination in her eyes, and wonders if her performance will live up to her attitude.

It does. Rei’s eyes widen behind his glasses lenses when he watches her flip over the bar with the grace of a gymnast, that effortlessly brash smile still in place on her features, her ponytail flying with the momentum. His breath stops, his heart pounds, and for a moment, he swears that pink sparkles and sakura petals cloud his vision of all that surrounds him save for her stunning figure. (He should probably get his glasses checked.)

Matsuoka Gou is beautiful, and damn, Rei is crushing hard.

**Author's Note:**

> please free!dom, can Rei joining the swim team to gain Rin’s approval to date Gou totally be a thing????


End file.
